


Monster Under the Bed

by virmillion



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Gen, roman and logan are very small here and i support them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-13
Updated: 2018-01-13
Packaged: 2019-08-20 00:49:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16545626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/virmillion/pseuds/virmillion
Summary: i was asked to write fluff for one reason or another, and i remain adamant that it is not my forte





	Monster Under the Bed

Roman feared very few things as a child—getting lost and being forgotten were among them. Dragons and witches and performing? Not a problem. Even with the few he possessed, they were easily overcome. Got lost in the woods at night? The perfect chance to go on a grand quest unimpeded. Been forgotten? The perfect opportunity to change himself up and make friends again. Hardly any problem could cross the boy’s path without him being able to put some sort of positive spin on it. Accordingly, when he came across a monster that instilled genuine fear into him, he was more than a little put off.

A late night imagining things in his room, abruptly interrupted by Patton sticking his head in and announcing it to be bedtime. A reluctant Roman hangs up his sword over his bed, clapping the lights off and burrowing under his plush red blankets. With the white noise of Patton arguing Logan out of reading any more of his book, the creative side’s eyes drift shut, the world of dreams engulfing him and whisking him out of his bedroom. Lucid dreaming, a particular point of pride for the little prince to have developed, is one of his favorite parts of nighttime. Sneaking candy out of the kitchen, tiptoeing around while pretending to be a ninja, living out his wildest dreams and remembering them in the morning. Tonight, however, isn’t the case for that. Tonight, Roman is rudely jarred awake from the most exciting point of his space-travelling dream by something hissing. Loudly. And close.

Roman sits up slowly, keeping the blanket wrapped around his shoulders as he glances about the dark room, waiting for his eyes to adjust. The hissing continues, rising and falling like a wave. With his ears carefully tuned in to any sudden sound, Roman stretches his arm back, lifting his sword from the wall and holding it defensively in front of him. Louder hissing, a low growl, a harsh  _ thunk  _ noise, and silence. Undeniably coming from under his bed. He swings himself around to let his head hang over the edge of the bed, hair brushing against the carpet. Too dark to see anything. Roman claps the lights on, squinting against the brightness as something takes form in front of him.

It claps the lights back off.

Roman does not sleep the rest of the night.

 

“I’m sure it was a very scary dream,” Patton soothes him the next morning, sipping at a cup of coffee.

“It wasn’t a dream!” Roman insists. “I watched it happen! It was there!”

“I suppose I could spray some monster repellent under there tonight. Would that make you feel better, kiddo?” Roman nods, pushing out his lower lip. “Great, I’ll get right on that. Can you get the ingredients?” Another nod, this one filled with determination. Roman takes off for some obscure corner of the mind palace, certain in what he needs to obtain.

“You know monster repellent isn’t real, right?” Logan asks, looking up from the book he has spread open on the table. “He’s probably overreacting again.”

“I know.” Patton takes another swallow of his coffee, grimacing before adding two more sugar packets. “But it makes him feel better, and that’s what’s important.” Logan bites his lip thoughtfully, making a mental note.

Meanwhile, Roman has already gathered a silvery bird feather, a water bottle containing the tears of a golden dragon, and the enchanted white piccolo, all of which he conveniently keeps in a treasure chest at the foot of his bed for adventuring purposes. With his arms overloaded, he waddles his way back to the kitchen and deposits everything on the kitchen table.

“Secret ingredient?” he asks, looking up at Patton.

“Secret ingredient,” Patton confirms, whisking the items away and out of sight. Roman bounces on his toes as Patton does something to mix them up, calling over Logan once it’s complete and handing him the piccolo.

“Do I have to?” Logan moans. The sharp look from Patton confirms it, so Logan begrudgingly takes the piccolo and plays a little tune at the pile behind Patton.

“Perfect!” Patton announces, turning back to hand Roman a spray bottle. “That should be good. Go spray that mean old monster.” The little prince runs back to his room, sliding on the wood floors and pretending to be an ice skater before crashing into his door.

On the floor by his bed, Roman delivers a liberal spritzing over the entirety of the carpet underneath, drowning the fibers until the bottle empties. He surveys his work, leaning back on his haunches and watching carefully for the return of the monster. Of course, he wouldn’t see it anytime soon—everyone knows that monsters only come out at night. He could wait.

 

As night falls and the other two give their well wishes, Roman feels his eyes fighting to shut, burning from exhaustion. His blinks get longer every time, until he nearly falls asleep crouched beside his bed. At last, he admits defeat, curling up on the floor and facing his mattress. A tear leaks from his eye as they moisturize themselves, letting the boy get some rest. Hissing wakes him once again.

Roman’s eyes snap open, met with the same dark figure under his bed. The monster repellent didn’t work. Hardly one to give up so quickly, Roman swats a hand over the wet carpet, trying to smack the monster out. It hisses again, recoils, then rolls out from the other side of the bed frame. The thing rises, straightening and growling, barely topping out at four feet. It looks at Roman.

Scratch that.

It looks  _ like  _ Roman.

“Hi,” he offers in a small voice. “Sorry I tried to hit you.” It hisses again, before sinking out of the room. “Wait, come back!” A pause. “Don’t leave me alone.” A slow reappearance of the monster, reluctant but real. “Please.”

The monster—the boy?—squints at Roman, folding its arms.

“You tried to hit me,” it spits out. “You tried to use monster repellent to keep me out.”

“Sorry, I thought you  _ were _ a monster. Obviously not, if it didn’t work on you.”

“You don’t know that.” The not-monster starts to sink out again, before Roman vaults over the bed to grab its hand. It freezes, staring at their joined fingers in shock.

“I know that you aren’t a monster, because you’re still here. What’s your name?”

“I’m not tellin’ you,” it mutters, trying to pull its hand back.

“Make something up. You must be important to Thomas, at least.”

“You know who Thomas is?” it asks, incredulous. Roman nod.

“We all do. So who’re you?”

It pouts for a minute, debating before releasing a long sigh. “I’m Anxiety.”

“So the not-monster under my bed was the literal embodiment of fear?”

“That’s not quite what I—”

“Come on, I gotta introduce you to the others!” Roman exclaims. Still holding a firm grip on the monster—Anxiety’s—hand, he runs out to show Patton and Logan his new findings.

“Maybe we shouldn’t do that, I can just go back, lay low or something?”

“Nonsense, they’re gonna love you, I know it!”

“Yeah?” Anxiety looks almost hopeful, yet terrified of whether the hope could be crushed.

Roman shoots back a toothy grin.

“Yeah!”


End file.
